Going by the Books
by kab16
Summary: "In the play, Juliet loses everything." How much of who you are is determined by your name? Suliet.  Dharma era.


_**Hmm, I don't have much to say for this one. Just a little something James and Juliet talk about one night while looking through some books. Hope you enjoy! Please tell me what you think!**_

_**Sarah**_

* * *

_Going by the Books_

They weren't, like, a _thing_. Sure there's a simple kiss every now and again when the coast is clear. And the occasional quickie during their breaks, when they fell at the same times. And of course the nights James tells Miles and Jin that he's studying late in the rec room (_aka: screwing Juliet like there is no tomorrow)_. He tries not to stay the night, but when he can't resist, he tells the guys he fell asleep on his books.

They were just two lonely people stuck in the wrong decade having some fun. That was all. But if Miles finds out, everyone finds out, and then it won't be harmless fun anymore. It would be all of Dharmaville oohing and aahing. And then when the two of them were ready to end it, they wouldn't be able to just slip back into the relationship they had before. They would have to deal with the "who did what?" and "how'd it start? How'd it end?" "How long?" "Where? When? Why?" and "Oh, but the two of you were so cute!" (Because, let's be honest here, if they were ever really together, they _would_ be a cute couple).

Juliet is just finishing the dishes when the door slams open.

"Please tell me you have some beer," he calls as soon as he's inside.

"You drank my last one."

"Dammit. We're all out at my place."

"That's pretty scary, considering how much you guys get last week."

"Oh give me a break, Blondie. It's three of us over there."

"Oh that's right. And how much of that beer did Jin finish off?"

He sighs and opens up her freezer. "Fine, at least tell me you've got some ice cream."

She turns off the water and wipes her hands on the dish towel. "Tough day?"

"Try working your ass off to impress Horace and learn every damn code they've got here for the security exam. Then ask me."

She comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist, kisses his jawline. "I'm sorry."

"Ah, here we go." He pulls out a carton of Dharma's chocolate ice cream. "You'd think that they could do better than just chocolate and vanilla."

"Amy says they just ordered strawberry," Juliet says with mock enthusiasm. James laughs.

"Not exactly what I meant."

He fills one bowl and reaches for another. "You want?"

"Why not? Just a little, though."

He gives her three scoops, not even remotely close to a little, but she doesn't object.

"You wanna take these upstairs?" he asks suggestively.

"You know, I was thinking that we haven't had a book club meeting in a while."

A few months back they set up an unofficial Dharma book club consisting of all of two members.

"Why would we do book club when there is so much more that we can do?" He starts for her neck but she pushes him back.

"We've got the whole night, James. Come on, I just got a new stack."

She drags him into the living room and motions to the pile. "Take your pick."

It's mostly thriller. Mystery, suspense and horror that never made it big past the seventies. They're good, though. She's glad she has the chance to read them.

There are a couple of classics in there too-all Steinbeck-but that's mostly for James' benefit. She tolerates them just fine, but doesn't love them the way he does.

James picks one of her thrillers up, flips through a couple of pages. "You know what's funny? Dharma's got a whole collection of Shakespeare, but not one has ever made it into your pile. You go through two stacks a month and you haven't read him once."

"Yeah, and I'm not planning to. I hate Shakespeare."

"Really?

"Can't stand him."

"Even Romeo and Juliet?"

"If I hate Shakespeare, why would that be an exception?"

"Cause everybody likes Romeo and Juliet. The greatest romance of all time. And, you know," he motions to her and then an imaginary person beside her. "Juliet, Juliet."

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I know, I'm named after the greatest heroine in all of literature." The sarcasm runs thick through her voice.

"So you are named after her?"

"My mom was studying to be an English teacher. She was going through her Shakespeare phase when she had me. Thought it would be romantic. Quite frankly, I don't see it. Everyone thinks there story is so magnificent. They were kids who thought they were in love. They were willing to do anything for each other. Love overcame all. Great. Fantastic. What no one seems to remember is that love didn't win. They both end up dead. She kills herself because she couldn't live without him. Really the type of person I love to be representing."

"Jesus Juliet, it's just a play."

"Yeah, well, in the play Juliet loses everything."

"Oh come on. That doesn't really bother you, does it?"

"That the girl I'm named after put all of her trust in love and ended up dead because of it? Honestly James, it kind of does."

"You're blowing this name thing way out of proportion, Blondie," he tries to reason with her. "It's a name. It don't matter for nothing."

She pauses, considers his words.

"Yeah, I guess your right Sawyer."

He whips his head around, stares at her with his eyes bugged out. He feels like he's been punched in the gut. "What?"

"Oh," she says innocently. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd mind; it's just a name."

Alright, so that was a low blow. She shouldn't have gone there, but she holds her ground.

He clenches his jaw and glares at her. Looks up to the ceiling, back down to her. "Dammit Juliet. There is no comparison. Sawyer was the man who killed my parents. I gave myself that name –"

"When you felt like him. You weren't James when you were conning women, and you're not Sawyer now. I know my problem with my name is nothing even close to that, I'm just saying that names _do _matter."

"Alright. But even so, you aren't your name. It's not like it has any control over your life."

"Well, I'm not so sure. I lost my family, Rachel. I'm stuck on an island in the seventies and the one time I gave into love it ended with my husband sleeping with every girl he saw. Maybe if my name was Kate, I'd be at home sipping pina coladas with Rachel right now."

James rolled his head back. "Why do you always have to make everything about Kate?" he grumbled. "Listen, your name could be Amanda and you'd still be on this damn rock. It's just you're a matter of luck."

Juliet shrugs. "I guess. But you don't really know, do you?"

He lets out a breath "Guess not. Now does that count as our book club meeting? Can we move on to bigger and better things?"

She smiles. "Have anything specific in mind?"

"Oh, I got plans." He takes a step toward her and leans in for the kiss when she interrupts.

"But you do agree that Juliet doesn't deserve all the praise she gets, right?" Her lips are an inch away. He sighs and pulls back. She's clearly not ready to put an end to this just absolutely enthralling discussion._ "_I'm not the only one who thinks that she's dependent and helpless?"

"Course she is. And baby you ain't nothing like that." His arms encircle her waist and he pulls her towards him.

"And, most importantly," she adds. "I will _never_ love a man enough to die for them."

"Is that right?"

She tilts her head slightly, challenging him to make the next move. So he backs her up against the wall and crushes his lips onto hers. She puts one hand on her neck, the other in his hair. He moves his hands down to her hips and slips his finger tips into her jeans.

When he finally pulls away he raises his eyebrows in question. _And now? _He waits for her response with his dimples showing.

She runs a hand down his face. "Still."

* * *

"_I love you."_

"_No, you don't let go."_

"_I love you James."_

"_No!"_

"_I love you so much."_

"_No! No don't let go!"_

"_Juliet!"_

_Juliet._


End file.
